Furthermore…

I caught a VCY America radio show today discussing social networks Facebook and MySpace from a Christian [not Catholic] perspective. The hostess, Ingrid Schlueter, and college student guest Same Guzman made a point of mentioning both the positive and negative aspects of social networking. Multiply.com,the social network on which I am an admin of the Catholic Friends group, was not mentioned, which is unfortunate, because it is a family friendly site. More details on the program as given on the radio network’s site, www.crosstalkamerica.com follow.

Christians and Social Media
Date: April 21, 2009
Host: Ingrid Schlueter
Guest: Sam Guzman
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Sam Guzman is a college student in his Junior year at Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wisconsin, where he’s majoring in English. He currently operates his own web business.

Internet communication has evolved far beyond the simplicity of e-mail. Whether it’s sharing opinions, ideas, keeping in touch with friends and loved ones, or even communicating with others in a given job field for career enhancement, social networking is all the rage and websites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are leading the charge.

What biblical injunctions should Christians keep in mind while online? How can we glorify the Lord in all that we do and say in this age of incredible communication opportunity? Join Ingrid and Sam as they do an examination of today’s new and unique areas of the cyberworld on this edition of Crosstalk.

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Every week I prepare for our small faith sharing group, where we discuss the previous Sunday’s Readings, by checking, among other things, the website of St. Charles Borromeo Church in Picayune, Mississippi. I find it particularly valuable because it breaks the readings up into small sections followed by brief comments. It is displayed in pdf format, and includes treatments of the A, B and C cycles of the Readings Sunday by Sunday, so that it is simple to home in on particular Sunday’s Readings in which there might be an interest. In additon to the text of the actual readings and their accompanying glosses, there are sometimes also included more general comments on the significance of a particular Sunday in the liturgy of the Church, or other general remarks which help to illumine the scope of the Church’s teaching.

I talked to a priest about how I had gotten fascinated with Internet social networking sites, but was not at peace with participating there because they seem to be heavily invested with sugggestive pictures and material, which I would try to navigate past as one would mythical Scylla and Charybdis.

He divined (oops!) that this interest suggested (oops!) lonliness, and recommended I get more active in real life social activities. He also mentioned that I might look into a certain Catholic online site, where I might find interesting possibilities for replacing the unsavory ones saturated with sexy stuff.

The site he mentioned didn’t very strongly capture my interest, but following up a bit late I discovered a well-known social networking site I had joined some time previously but had never much frequented had a ‘Catholic Friends’ group, which is just what the “doctor of souls” ordered. International in character, it turns out to have many active members from Poland and the Phillipines, two of the most thoroughly Catholic countries in the world. A number of the participants are consecrated members of religious orders, and lay folk highly interested in the Church and personal holiness comprise a good part of the membership. There is a sprinkling of inquisitive non-Catholics too. I get to see some elegant religious illustrations, read about favorite saints and devotions, and enjoy uploaded music of good quality.